Day 9 - Tuesday, October 20th
LIFE Journal
This Week's Memory Verse
Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands. Psalm 112:1
Devotional
Learning to become a prayer wrestler can be a difficult task. The speed in which our lives whiz by us can make it hard to remember to slow down and spend time in prayer for others. Yet, since the beginning of the Church, God intended prayer to play an integral part for our faith family. But He didn’t want us to just spend time alone in prayer, but also, to engage in the discipline of prayer as a collective body.
Henri Nouwen said this, “Prayer is the language of the Christian community...By prayer, community is created as well as expressed. Prayer is first of all the realization of God’s presence in the midst of God’s people and therefore, the realization of community itself...Without some form of community, individual prayer cannot be born or developed. Communal and individual prayer belong together as two folded hands. Without community, individual prayer easily degenerates into egocentric and eccentric behavior, but without individual prayer, the prayer of the community quickly becomes a meaningless routine. Individual and community prayer cannot be separated without harm.”
There are all sorts of reasons for the body of believers to come together in prayer, whether it is during a Sunday morning experience or during the week in a LIFEgroup. No matter what the reason that brings us together, the power of the people of God united in prayer is undeniable.The apostle Paul was a prime example of a man who understood this and engaged in consistent, collective prayer for and with the Church.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 NIV
If you’re looking for a way to pray with a group of fellow believers, the prayer Paul prayed for the Colossians is the perfect template. Praying for the Church to be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit so that His people can live in such a way that pleases the Lord and bearing fruit in all they do, is exactly what our generation needs in the chaos of this world. Strength and endurance for the body as she faces continuous criticism and in some places, persecution, is one way we can come together and wrestle in prayer for The Exchange and the Church as a whole.
Think On This Verse:
They all joined together constantly in prayer... Acts 1:14 (a) NIV
Ask and Answer:
Do you spend time in collective prayer? What keeps you from doing so? How can our schedules, our insecurities or the preoccupations of our minds keep us from real, authentic communal prayer? How can prayer create a stronger bond within the church?
Henri Nouwen said this, “Prayer is the language of the Christian community...By prayer, community is created as well as expressed. Prayer is first of all the realization of God’s presence in the midst of God’s people and therefore, the realization of community itself...Without some form of community, individual prayer cannot be born or developed. Communal and individual prayer belong together as two folded hands. Without community, individual prayer easily degenerates into egocentric and eccentric behavior, but without individual prayer, the prayer of the community quickly becomes a meaningless routine. Individual and community prayer cannot be separated without harm.”
There are all sorts of reasons for the body of believers to come together in prayer, whether it is during a Sunday morning experience or during the week in a LIFEgroup. No matter what the reason that brings us together, the power of the people of God united in prayer is undeniable.The apostle Paul was a prime example of a man who understood this and engaged in consistent, collective prayer for and with the Church.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 NIV
If you’re looking for a way to pray with a group of fellow believers, the prayer Paul prayed for the Colossians is the perfect template. Praying for the Church to be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit so that His people can live in such a way that pleases the Lord and bearing fruit in all they do, is exactly what our generation needs in the chaos of this world. Strength and endurance for the body as she faces continuous criticism and in some places, persecution, is one way we can come together and wrestle in prayer for The Exchange and the Church as a whole.
Think On This Verse:
They all joined together constantly in prayer... Acts 1:14 (a) NIV
Ask and Answer:
Do you spend time in collective prayer? What keeps you from doing so? How can our schedules, our insecurities or the preoccupations of our minds keep us from real, authentic communal prayer? How can prayer create a stronger bond within the church?
Prayer
Father, you created us for community and as a community, you have called us to real, authentic prayer with one another. So often, I can allow my priorities take precedence over yours. Help me to make praying with other believers a priority. Give me people to surround myself with who will commit ourselves to consistent prayer together. Amen.